The difficulty of explaining crypto to newcomers
I think we’ve all been there. You’re at a family gathering or dinner and someone asks you to explain cryptocurrency. You start with blockchain basics, then move on to proof of stake, maybe mention DeFi, and before you know it you’ve created more confusion than clarity. This happened to me recently at a holiday dinner, and I’m pretty sure I left my audience more perplexed than when I started.
Perhaps the problem is that those of us who think about crypto on a daily basis have lost touch with the beginner’s point of view. We get caught up in technical details when what people really need is a simple, relevant framework. It reminds us that sometimes the best teachers aren’t the experts, but those who are just a step ahead.
The clear framework of a technology expert
Ben Thompson, who writes about technology in his Stratechery newsletter, offers what might be the most useful explanation I’ve come across. He only mentions cryptography a few times a year, but his point is remarkably clear. He starts with the basics: “Blockchains are the idea that disparate groups can reach consensus without any sort of centralized authority. »
This decentralization gives cryptography what Thompson calls “all the qualities” of digital goods – infinitely duplicatable, universally accessible, easily distributed – while maintaining their scarcity. He finds this conceptually interesting because it solves a problem he faces as a digital newsletter editor: “Digital goods are inherently difficult to monetize because they are infinitely duplicatable. »
But this is where it comes in handy. Thompson acknowledges that the most compelling use case for crypto right now might be peer-to-peer money transfer, which is why he’s focusing on stablecoins. Stablecoins, he says, represent “all kinds of cool things about the Internet” – a universal ledger, scarcity, fast transactions – without the volatility and speculation of other cryptocurrencies.
“Basically, you end up with this currency that works like the Internet,” Thompson says. This is the definition I wish I had at dinner: crypto is a currency that acts like the Internet.
The business case for blockchain adoption
Thompson also presents a strong business case. He points out that if you want to create a financial entity, you don’t need to build the entire back-end infrastructure. You can build directly on a blockchain. This allows fintech companies to “offload” the difficult financial aspects (holding money, reconciling accounts, maintaining transaction records, and establishing trust) to the blockchain.
“With blockchains, you get all this for free,” he notes. This explanation would have resonated with my dining companion, who works in real estate and understands the value of streamlined systems.
What’s interesting is that Thompson’s explanation of 2024 seems even more relevant in late 2025. As token prices have fallen, traditional financial companies like Stripe, BlackRock, and Visa are increasingly interested in moving parts of their operations to blockchains.
Back to basics with Bitcoin
There’s also a classic article on Medium from 2013 that offers perhaps the most accessible Bitcoin explanation I’ve seen. The author uses a simple analogy of trading apples on a park bench to explain how blockchains make digital assets behave like physical assets.
In this analogy, the blockchain lives on everyone’s computers, recording every transaction that has ever taken place. Sending a digital apple becomes “as good as seeing a physical apple leave my hand and fall into your pocket”. And just like on the park bench, the exchange only involves two people: no banks or middlemen needed.
The message simply explains proof of work: you can participate in updating the ledger and be rewarded with digital apples. This also covers scarcity: the creation of new digital apples only happens through this process. On this basis, Bitcoin becomes understandable as a protocol in which these digital apples are bitcoins.
This makes crypto money divisible and instantly sent anywhere, without permission. But the author goes further, noting that other digital elements can be added to these digital apples: texts, contracts, share certificates or identity cards.
Adopt a beginner’s mindset
Perhaps the key to effectively explaining cryptography is to adopt what Zen practitioners call “shoshin” – a beginner’s mind. In the movie Big, Tom Hanks’ character goes from data entry to vice president because he approaches toys with childlike wonder, asking simple questions that experts overlook.
“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities,” wrote a Zen master. “In the minds of experts, there are few.” This might be the best approach to understanding something as complex as cryptography. You don’t have to be a Zen master or a 12 year old, you just need to channel that openness and curiosity.
As we head toward more holiday gatherings, perhaps the lesson is to keep explanations simple. Start with the internet currency analogy. Mention stablecoins as a practical application. And remember that sometimes the most powerful explanations come from those who are learning alongside you, not those who have forgotten what it’s like not to understand.
